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Weeb Ewbank

Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in January 1969. He is the only coach to win a championship in both the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL).

Weeb Ewbank
Personal information
Born:(1907-05-06)May 6, 1907
Richmond, Indiana, U.S.
Died:November 17, 1998(1998-11-17) (aged 91)
Oxford, Ohio, U.S.
Career information
High school:Richmond (Richmond, Indiana)
College:Miami (OH)
Career history
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Win–loss record:130–129–7
Playoff record:4–1
Winning %:.502
Games:266
Coaching stats at PFR
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Raised in Indiana, Ewbank attended Miami University in Ohio, where he was a multi-sport star who led his baseball, basketball, and football teams to state championships. He immediately began a coaching career after graduating, working at Ohio high schools between 1928 and 1943, when he entered the U.S. Navy during World War II. While in the military, Ewbank was an assistant to Paul Brown on a service football team at Naval Station Great Lakes outside of Chicago. Ewbank was discharged in 1945 and coached college sports for three years before reuniting with Brown as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns, a professional team in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). The Browns won all four AAFC championships. They joined the NFL with the league's merger in 1950, winning the championship that year.

Ewbank left the Browns after the 1953 season to become head coach of the Colts, a young NFL team that had struggled in its first season. In 1956, Ewbank brought in quarterback Johnny Unitas, who quickly became a star and helped lead a potent offense that included wide receiver Raymond Berry and fullback Alan Ameche to an NFL championship in 1958. The Colts repeated as champions in 1959, but the team's performance slipped over the next three seasons and Ewbank was fired three weeks after their final game of the 1962 season.[1][2][3] He was soon picked up by the Jets, another struggling team in the AFL. While his first few years were unsuccessful, Ewbank helped build the Jets into a contender after signing Alabama quarterback Joe Namath in 1965. The Jets won the AFL championship in 1968 and went on to win Super Bowl III.

Ewbank, who was known as a mild-mannered coach who favored simple but well-executed strategies, retired after the 1973 season and settled in Oxford, Ohio. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, and died twenty years later in Oxford on November 17, 1998, the 30th anniversary of the "Heidi Game".

Early years

Born in Richmond, Indiana, Ewbank's father was a grocer who owned two stores in the small city.[4][5][6] He attended Morton High School and played quarterback on the football team, was an outfielder in baseball, and was a member of the basketball team.[4] He captained the football and basketball teams when he was a senior.[6][7] As a teenager, Ewbank and his father drove to Dayton, Ohio, see early football star Jim Thorpe and the Canton Bulldogs play.[5] One of his younger brothers could not pronounce "Wilbur" correctly and called him "Weeb", the nickname he was known by for the rest of his life.[4]

After graduating from high school in 1924, Ewbank attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.[4] He played on the school's football team as a quarterback under head coach Chester Pittser.[4][8] He was also the center fielder on the baseball team and a forward on the basketball team.[9] While Ewbank was small in stature – he was only 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) and weighed 146 pounds (66 kg) – he was one of Miami's best athletes.[9] He shared quarterback duties with Eddie Wohlwender on a squad that finished with an 8–1 win–loss record and won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship in 1927, his senior year.[9][10] Miami's baseball team also won the Ohio Conference when he was a sophomore and took the Buckeye Athletic Association title when he was a senior.[9] The basketball team won a state title when he was a junior.[9] Ewbank was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity while at Miami.[11]

Coaching career

Shortly after graduating from Miami in 1928, Ewbank took his first coaching job at Van Wert High School in Van Wert, Ohio, overseeing the football, basketball, and baseball teams.[4][12] He remained there until 1930, when he moved back to Oxford and took a position coaching football and basketball at McGuffey High School, a private institution run by Miami University.[12] He also taught physical education at Miami.[12] Ewbank took a break from coaching in 1932 to pursue a master's degree at Columbia University in New York City and filled in as Miami's basketball coach in 1939 after the previous coach left for another job, but otherwise held his coaching positions at McGuffey until 1943.[4][13] Under his tutelage, the school's Green Devils football team had a win–loss record of 71–21 (.772) in thirteen seasons.[14] This included a streak of three undefeated seasons between 1936 and 1939 and one season – 1936 – where the team did not allow any scoring by opponents.[5][12]

Ewbank joined the U.S. Navy in 1943 as American involvement in World War II intensified.[4] He was assigned for training to Naval Station Great Lakes north of Chicago, where Paul Brown, a former classmate who succeeded him as Miami's starting quarterback, was coaching the base football team.[4][15] Brown had become a successful high school coach in Ohio before being named head football coach at Ohio State University in 1941.[16] At Great Lakes, Ewbank was an assistant to Brown on the football team and coached the basketball team.[13]

Following his discharge from the Navy at the end of the war in 1945, Ewbank became the backfield coach under Charles "Rip" Engle at Brown University.[4][17] He also was head coach of the basketball team in the 1946–47 season, his only one at Brown.[17][18]

Ewbank's next stop was as head football coach at Washington University in St. Louis for the 1947 and 1948 seasons.[17] Ewbank guided the Bears to a 14–4 record in two seasons, (5–3 in 1947, 9–1 in 1948).[19]

Cleveland Browns

Despite his success in St. Louis, Ewbank quit his job when he was given the chance to serve as an assistant under Paul Brown, who by 1949 was coaching the Cleveland Browns, a professional team in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).[20][21] Ewbank was brought in to oversee the Browns' linemen after backfield coach John Brickels quit to take a job at Miami University and tackles coach Bill Edwards left to become the head coach at Vanderbilt University.[20] Ewbank expected to coach quarterbacks, having played the position in college, but Brown insisted that he oversee the tackles.[22] "He knew I'd have to work very hard at this job and bring a fresh approach", Ewbank said many years later.[22]

Led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, and ends Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie, the Browns won the AAFC championship in 1949, their fourth straight title.[23] The AAFC folded after the season, and the Browns were absorbed by the more established National Football League (NFL).[24] The team finished the 1950 season with a 10–2 record and won the NFL championship by beating the Los Angeles Rams.[25] The Browns reached the NFL championship each year between 1951 and 1953, but lost once to the Rams and twice to the Detroit Lions.[26]

Baltimore Colts

Ewbank got his first professional head coaching job in early 1954 for the NFL's Baltimore Colts, a franchise that had started play the previous year.[27] While it was a step up for Ewbank, Brown encouraged him not to take the job and told him he would not be successful.[28] After Ewbank took the job, Brown accused him of passing information about the Browns' draft targets to the Colts.[28] Brown had insisted that he stay with the Browns through the 1954 draft, and NFL commissioner Bert Bell agreed.[29] During the draft, Ewbank allegedly sent the names of players Brown liked to the Colts through Baltimore sportswriter John Steadman, including end Raymond Berry, who went on to have a long and successful career.[29]

The Colts struggled in Ewbank's first years as head coach, posting records of 3–9 in 1954 and 5–6–1 in 1955.[30][31] In 1956, however, the team signed quarterback Johnny Unitas after he was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[5] Ewbank brought in Otto Graham to tutor Unitas, who complemented an improving team that included Berry, fullback Alan Ameche, halfback Lenny Moore and defensive back Don Shula.[5][32]

The Colts began the 1956 season with a 3–3 record, and calls for Ewbank's firing intensified – just as they had the previous year.[32] Team owner Carroll Rosenbloom supported him, however, saying that while he had considered a coaching change in the past, Ewbank could stay with the Colts "forever – or until he fouls up".[32] When he came to Baltimore, Ewbank had promised to create a system like Paul Brown's in Cleveland, but said he would need time to turn the team into a winner.[32] The Colts finished 1956 with a 5–7 record.[33]

The team made a turnaround the following year, posting a 7–5 record, but still finished third in the NFL's Western Division behind the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.[34] The team improved further in 1958, winning the Western Division with a 9–3 record and earning a spot in the NFL championship game against the New York Giants.[35] Led by Unitas, Berry and Ameche, the team won the game 23–17 in sudden-death overtime.[36] Often referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played", the championship was watched by a large national audience on television and helped make professional football one of the most viewed sports in the U.S.[37] Ewbank was named coach of the year by the Associated Press and United Press International after the season.[6]

Baltimore finished with a 9–3 record for the second year in a row in 1959 and repeated as NFL champions.[38] The team's performance fell off in subsequent years, however, and after posting a 7–7 record in 1962, Rosenbloom fired Ewbank three weeks later.[1][2][3][39] He was succeeded by former player Don Shula, a 33-year-old assistant coach with the Lions.[39]

His legacy as a coach is mixed. Some remember Ewbank as a humble coach who had a good sense of humor and tried to stay out of the spotlight.[32][40] He could also be harsh with his players, however. Before the 1958 championship game, he gave a speech telling his stars they needed to improve and had barely made the team.[40] Unitas, he said, was obtained "with a seventy-five-cent phone call" and Ameche wasn't liked or wanted.[40] Ewbank was not universally liked by his players. Second-string running back Jack Call later said the team won "in spite of, not because of" Ewbank.[41] Other players saw him as overly easygoing, saying that while he was able to build teams up, he became too relaxed once he reached the top.[41] Hall of Famer Raymond Berry stated in his book All the Moves I Had, "What it amounts to is that Ewbank knew exactly what he wanted his team to do and how to get them to do it well... Being under Weeb's system was the number one reason why Unitas and I had the careers we had." [42]

In his autobiography, which he partially dedicated to Weeb Ewbank, Hall of Famer Art Donovan had this to say about his former coach: "When Weeb and Joe Thomas came in and introduced the keying defense—one that depended upon quickness and a players's ability to read offenses—man, I was in hog heaven. Weeb Ewbank made Arthur J. Donovan, Jr., a Hall of Fame football player. I loved him for that; I always will love him for that. I can honestly say that Weeb Ewbank became and remains one of the most important, cherished people in my life. With that out of the way, I can also honestly say that Weeb was a screwball who held insane grudges, concentrated too much on what I considered the unimportant aspects of the game, thought he was smarter than God, and deep down inside was one mean sonofabitch."[43]

Ewbank remains the longest tenured head coach in the history of the Baltimore Colts.

New York Jets

A five-man syndicate led by Sonny Werblin bought the New York Titans franchise of the American Football League (AFL), an NFL competitor, as part of bankruptcy proceedings in 1963.[44] Shortly thereafter, the team changed its name to the New York Jets and hired Ewbank in April as its head coach and general manager.[45][46] Ewbank took over a team that had not had a winning record in its first three years of existence and hired a coaching staff that included Chuck Knox, Walt Michaels, and Clive Rush, all future head coaches.[45] When he was hired, Ewbank said he had a five-year plan to succeed in Baltimore, and "I don't see why we can't build a winner here in five years."[45]

While the Jets won their first three games with Ewbank as coach, his first several years were unsuccessful.[45] The team, meanwhile, had to deal with numerous logistical issues stemming from its second-tier status among New York's sports teams.[45] The Jets switched stadiums from the Polo Grounds in Manhattan after the 1963 season to the new Shea Stadium in Queens, but shared it with baseball's New York Mets.[45] Concerned about possible damage to the stadium's natural turf, the Mets would not allow the Jets to practice at Shea, forcing the team to hold practices at the Rikers Island jail complex.[45] The Jets posted 5–8–1 records for three consecutive seasons (1963–1965).[47][48][49]

Despite limited on-field success in Ewbank's first years, the Jets began to put the pieces of a winning team in place.[45] In 1964, they outbid cross-town NFL rival New York Giants for Matt Snell, a top running back prospect out of Ohio State.[45] Linebacker Larry Grantham became a consistent All-Pro selection and safety Dainard Paulson had 12 interceptions in 1964, which remains a team record.[50] An even bigger coup came in 1965, when the Jets signed Joe Namath, a star quarterback at Alabama under coach Bear Bryant.[51] The St. Louis Cardinals selected Namath as the twelfth overall pick of the NFL draft, but Namath later said he chose the Jets in part because he got along with Ewbank and was impressed by how he had developed Unitas while with the Colts.[51]

Namath quickly became a star for the Jets. The team improved to 6–6–2 in 1966 and 8–5–1 in 1967, when Namath became the first to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a single season.[52][53][54] By 1968, Ewbank's team was becoming one of the top teams in the AFL. All of its main starters returned from the year before, and the Jets brought in All-Pro guard Bob Talamini from the Houston Oilers.[55] The Jets started with a 3–2 record, but won eight of nine to finish the regular season 11–3 and win the AFL East Division by four games.[56] One of the Jets' losses in 1968 was on the road in mid-November against the Oakland Raiders that later came to be known as the Heidi Game.[57] After Jim Turner kicked a field goal for the Jets that gave them a 32–29 lead with just over a minute left to play, NBC cut away from the game to a scheduled broadcast of the children's movie Heidi.[57] The Raiders went on to win the game by scoring two touchdowns in the final 42 seconds.[57] Ewbank's wife Lucy called the locker room to congratulate him on the win, only to learn the team had lost.[57]

The Jets' first-place finish in their division in 1968 set up a rematch with the Raiders – the defending AFL champions and winners of the AFL West – for the league championship.[57] Namath threw three touchdowns as the Jets won 27–23, putting them through to the third World Championship game, a matchup between the winner of the AFL and NFL now known as Super Bowl III.[57] The Jets were 17-point underdogs to the Colts, who had continued to succeed after Ewbank's departure with Unitas at quarterback and Shula as head coach.[58] Nevertheless, Namath publicly guaranteed a Jets win before the game, which rankled Ewbank.[59] Ewbank liked that the Colts were favored, thinking it would make them complacent, and did not want to agitate them by boasting about the Jets' chances.[58]

Ewbank and the Jets played an unconventional game against the Colts, opting for an uncharacteristically conservative strategy in part because star wideout Don Maynard was nursing a hamstring injury.[60] Also on film, the Jets noticed the Colts while talented on defense, were very predictable. They did not shift out of a defense once it was called from the sideline. So Namath called most of the plays at the line of scrimmage after viewing the Colts' defense instead of calling the offensive plays in the huddle. The tactic worked against the Colts, and the Jets built a 16–0 lead going into the game's fourth quarter by relying on Snell's running and Namath's ability to complete short passes against a steady Colts' blitz.[60] Snell had 121 yards on 30 carries.[60] The Jets' defense, meanwhile, held back a Colts offense that scored 460 points throughout the team's 15–1 regular- and post-season record up to that point.[61] New York intercepted four Baltimore passes, three thrown by Earl Morrall, who was substituting for an injured Unitas and one by Unitas who entered the game in the second half.[62] The Jets won the game 16–7, aided by Ewbank's familiarity with many of the Colts' players and strategies.[60]

The Jets had a 10–4 record in 1969, but lost a divisional playoff to the Kansas City Chiefs.[63] Ewbank was named the AFL's coach of the year after the season, but the team did not post a winning record in any of the following four years.[6][64][65][66][67] In December 1972, Ewbank announced that he would retire as head coach after the 1973 season, saying he wanted to spend more time with his wife.[68] He continued as general manager, however, and was named the team vice president.[68] Charley Winner, the former coach of the St. Louis Cardinals and the husband of Ewbank's daughter Nancy, was appointed as his replacement in early 1973.[69] The 1973 Jets season is the subject of the book The Last Season of Weeb Ewbank by Paul Zimmerman.[70] After the team lost seven of its first eight games in 1974, Ewbank resigned as vice president and general manager.[71] He agreed to coach quarterbacks at Columbia University in 1975.[72]

Later life and honors

Ewbank moved back to Oxford in retirement and wrote a book in 1977 called Football Greats.[73] He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, but said later that year that he was glad to be out of coaching.[74] With the expansion of the NFL, he said, talent had become diluted and fielding a good team was difficult.[74] Coaches, meanwhile, customarily took the blame for a team's failures, and the sport had become too violent.[74]

Ewbank's coaching style was laid-back but efficient, combining his mild personality with an orderliness inherited from Paul Brown.[26][75] "Weeb combined a low-key style with a flair for the most dramatic of accomplishments", former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in 1998. "He led two of the legendary teams during the era of pro football's greatest growth. But he preferred to stay in the background and let the players take the credit."[26] He favored well-practiced execution of a limited number of plays over complicated offensive and defensive systems.[75] Paul Brown "had the exact same approach: Don't do too much, but what you do, execute it flawlessly", Raymond Berry said in 2013, adding that the Colts' 1958 championship team had only six passing plays.[75]

Ewbank is the only man to coach two professional football teams to championships, and the only man to win the NFL championship, the AFL championship and a Super Bowl.[6] His regular-season career record in the NFL and AFL was 130–129–7, and his playoff record was 4–1.[76] Ewbank was selected as the head coach on the AFL All-Time Team in 1970.[77] In addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the Miami University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969, the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Talawanda School District Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.[6][12][78] He also won the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award in 1987 and was inducted into the Jets' Ring of Honor in 2010.[79][80]

Ewbank suffered a dislocated hip in the aftermath of the Jets' 1968 AFL championship game win, and had other health issues in his later years.[5] He broke his leg and had two hip replacements in the 1990s.[5] He also had myasthenia in his right eye.[5] Ewbank died at 91 on November 17, 1998, the 30th anniversary of the "Heidi Game", after suffering from heart problems.[26][81] He and his wife Lucy had three daughters, Luanne, Nancy and Jan.[26] His daughter Nancy married Charley Winner.[82]

Head coaching record

College football

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Washington University Bears (Independent) (1947–1948)
1947 Washington University 5–3
1948 Washington University 9–1
Washington University: 14–4
Total: 14–4

AFL/NFL

Team Year Regular Season Postseason
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
BAL 1954 3 9 0 .250 6th NFL Western
BAL 1955 5 6 1 .455 4th NFL Western
BAL 1956 5 7 0 .417 4th NFL Western
BAL 1957 7 5 0 .583 3rd NFL Western
BAL 1958 9 3 0 .750 1st NFL Western 1 0 1.000 Won NFL Championship over New York Giants
BAL 1959 9 3 0 .750 1st NFL Western 1 0 1.000 Won NFL Championship over New York Giants
BAL 1960 6 6 0 .500 4th NFL Western
BAL 1961 8 6 0 .571 T–3rd NFL Western
BAL 1962 7 7 0 .500 4th NFL Western
BAL Total 59 52 1 .532 2 0 1.000
NYJ 1963 5 8 1 .385 4th AFL East
NYJ 1964 5 8 1 .385 3rd AFL East
NYJ 1965 5 8 1 .385 2nd AFL East
NYJ 1966 6 6 2 .500 3rd AFL East
NYJ 1967 8 5 1 .615 2nd AFL East
NYJ 1968 11 3 0 .786 1st AFL East 2 0 1.000 Super Bowl III champions
NYJ 1969 10 4 0 .714 1st AFL East 0 1 .000 Lost to Kansas City Chiefs in Interdivisional Playoffs
NYJ 1970 4 10 0 .286 3rd AFC East
NYJ 1971 6 8 0 .429 3rd AFC East
NYJ 1972 7 7 0 .500 2nd AFC East
NYJ 1973 4 10 0 .286 4th AFC East
NYJ Total 71 77 6 .480 2 1 .667
Total 130 129 7 .502 4 1 .800
Source: Pro Football Reference

Coaching tree

Assistants under Weeb Ewbank who became NCAA or NFL head coaches:

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b "Colts fire Ewbank, pick Shula". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 8, 1963. p. 29.
  3. ^ a b "Colts' grid shift boss' own idea". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 9, 1963. p. 16.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j (PDF). Miami University Libraries. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
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  7. ^ Clark, Jan (December 21, 1973). "Ewbank, Logan Top List of 8 More Indiana Football Hall of Famers". Palladium-Item. p. 11. Retrieved October 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. 
  8. ^ Gifford & Richmond 2008, p. 168.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Miami Has Tiny Star in Ewbank". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Oxford, O. December 2, 1927. p. 28. He is Miami's smallest athlete, yet one of the most versatile in the Ohio Conference. He weighs only 146 pounds and stands 5 feet 7 inches. Ewbank is the only man at Miami who has won three "M's" since the start of 1927. He copped them as forward on the basketball team, centerfielder on the baseball outfit and quarterback on the football squad.
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Bibliography

  • Blevins, David (2012). College Football Awards: All National and Conference Winners Through 2010. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4867-8.
  • Broeg, Bob (2000). The 100 Greatest Moments in St. Louis Sports. St. Louis: Missouri History Museum Press. ISBN 978-1-883982-31-7.
  • Cannizzaro, Mark (2011). New York Jets: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis: MVP Books. ISBN 978-0-7603-4063-9.
  • Cantor, George (2008). Paul Brown: The Man Who Invented Modern Football. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-57243-725-8.
  • Gifford, Frank; Richmond, Peter (2008). The Glory Game:How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-154255-8.
  • Kurz, Bob (1983). Miami of Ohio, the Cradle of Coaches. Troy, Ohio: Troy Daily News. ISBN 978-99932-691-6-8.
  • Markoe, Arnold; Jackson, Kenneth T., eds. (2002). The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-80665-5.
  • Piascik, Andy (2007). The Best Show in Football: The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns. Lanham, Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58979-571-6.

External links

weeb, ewbank, wilbur, charles, weeb, ewbank, 1907, november, 1998, american, professional, football, coach, baltimore, colts, consecutive, championships, 1958, 1959, york, jets, victory, super, bowl, january, 1969, only, coach, championship, both, national, fo. Wilbur Charles Weeb Ewbank May 6 1907 November 17 1998 was an American professional football coach He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in January 1969 He is the only coach to win a championship in both the National Football League NFL and American Football League AFL Weeb EwbankPersonal informationBorn 1907 05 06 May 6 1907Richmond Indiana U S Died November 17 1998 1998 11 17 aged 91 Oxford Ohio U S Career informationHigh school Richmond Richmond Indiana College Miami OH Career historyAs a coach Van Wert HS OH 1928 1929 McGuffey HS OH 1930 1943 Great Lakes Navy 1943 1945 assistant Brown 1946 assistant Washington University 1947 1948 Cleveland Browns 1949 1953 assistant Baltimore Colts 1954 1962 New York Jets 1963 1973 Columbia 1975 assistant Career highlights and awardsSuper Bowl champion III 2 NFL champion 1958 1959 AFL champion 1968 NFL Coach of the Year 1958 New York Jets Ring of Honor New York Jets Jacket retired Indiana Football Hall of Fame Miami University Hall of Fame Washington University in St Louis Hall of FameCareer NFL statisticsWin loss record 130 129 7Playoff record 4 1Winning 502Games 266Coaching stats at PFRPro Football Hall of FameRaised in Indiana Ewbank attended Miami University in Ohio where he was a multi sport star who led his baseball basketball and football teams to state championships He immediately began a coaching career after graduating working at Ohio high schools between 1928 and 1943 when he entered the U S Navy during World War II While in the military Ewbank was an assistant to Paul Brown on a service football team at Naval Station Great Lakes outside of Chicago Ewbank was discharged in 1945 and coached college sports for three years before reuniting with Brown as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns a professional team in the All America Football Conference AAFC The Browns won all four AAFC championships They joined the NFL with the league s merger in 1950 winning the championship that year Ewbank left the Browns after the 1953 season to become head coach of the Colts a young NFL team that had struggled in its first season In 1956 Ewbank brought in quarterback Johnny Unitas who quickly became a star and helped lead a potent offense that included wide receiver Raymond Berry and fullback Alan Ameche to an NFL championship in 1958 The Colts repeated as champions in 1959 but the team s performance slipped over the next three seasons and Ewbank was fired three weeks after their final game of the 1962 season 1 2 3 He was soon picked up by the Jets another struggling team in the AFL While his first few years were unsuccessful Ewbank helped build the Jets into a contender after signing Alabama quarterback Joe Namath in 1965 The Jets won the AFL championship in 1968 and went on to win Super Bowl III Ewbank who was known as a mild mannered coach who favored simple but well executed strategies retired after the 1973 season and settled in Oxford Ohio He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 and died twenty years later in Oxford on November 17 1998 the 30th anniversary of the Heidi Game Contents 1 Early years 2 Coaching career 2 1 Cleveland Browns 2 2 Baltimore Colts 2 3 New York Jets 3 Later life and honors 4 Head coaching record 4 1 College football 4 2 AFL NFL 5 Coaching tree 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Bibliography 8 External linksEarly years EditBorn in Richmond Indiana Ewbank s father was a grocer who owned two stores in the small city 4 5 6 He attended Morton High School and played quarterback on the football team was an outfielder in baseball and was a member of the basketball team 4 He captained the football and basketball teams when he was a senior 6 7 As a teenager Ewbank and his father drove to Dayton Ohio see early football star Jim Thorpe and the Canton Bulldogs play 5 One of his younger brothers could not pronounce Wilbur correctly and called him Weeb the nickname he was known by for the rest of his life 4 After graduating from high school in 1924 Ewbank attended Miami University in Oxford Ohio 4 He played on the school s football team as a quarterback under head coach Chester Pittser 4 8 He was also the center fielder on the baseball team and a forward on the basketball team 9 While Ewbank was small in stature he was only 5 feet 7 inches 1 70 m and weighed 146 pounds 66 kg he was one of Miami s best athletes 9 He shared quarterback duties with Eddie Wohlwender on a squad that finished with an 8 1 win loss record and won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship in 1927 his senior year 9 10 Miami s baseball team also won the Ohio Conference when he was a sophomore and took the Buckeye Athletic Association title when he was a senior 9 The basketball team won a state title when he was a junior 9 Ewbank was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity while at Miami 11 Coaching career EditShortly after graduating from Miami in 1928 Ewbank took his first coaching job at Van Wert High School in Van Wert Ohio overseeing the football basketball and baseball teams 4 12 He remained there until 1930 when he moved back to Oxford and took a position coaching football and basketball at McGuffey High School a private institution run by Miami University 12 He also taught physical education at Miami 12 Ewbank took a break from coaching in 1932 to pursue a master s degree at Columbia University in New York City and filled in as Miami s basketball coach in 1939 after the previous coach left for another job but otherwise held his coaching positions at McGuffey until 1943 4 13 Under his tutelage the school s Green Devils football team had a win loss record of 71 21 772 in thirteen seasons 14 This included a streak of three undefeated seasons between 1936 and 1939 and one season 1936 where the team did not allow any scoring by opponents 5 12 Ewbank joined the U S Navy in 1943 as American involvement in World War II intensified 4 He was assigned for training to Naval Station Great Lakes north of Chicago where Paul Brown a former classmate who succeeded him as Miami s starting quarterback was coaching the base football team 4 15 Brown had become a successful high school coach in Ohio before being named head football coach at Ohio State University in 1941 16 At Great Lakes Ewbank was an assistant to Brown on the football team and coached the basketball team 13 Following his discharge from the Navy at the end of the war in 1945 Ewbank became the backfield coach under Charles Rip Engle at Brown University 4 17 He also was head coach of the basketball team in the 1946 47 season his only one at Brown 17 18 Ewbank s next stop was as head football coach at Washington University in St Louis for the 1947 and 1948 seasons 17 Ewbank guided the Bears to a 14 4 record in two seasons 5 3 in 1947 9 1 in 1948 19 Cleveland Browns Edit Despite his success in St Louis Ewbank quit his job when he was given the chance to serve as an assistant under Paul Brown who by 1949 was coaching the Cleveland Browns a professional team in the All America Football Conference AAFC 20 21 Ewbank was brought in to oversee the Browns linemen after backfield coach John Brickels quit to take a job at Miami University and tackles coach Bill Edwards left to become the head coach at Vanderbilt University 20 Ewbank expected to coach quarterbacks having played the position in college but Brown insisted that he oversee the tackles 22 He knew I d have to work very hard at this job and bring a fresh approach Ewbank said many years later 22 Led by quarterback Otto Graham fullback Marion Motley and ends Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie the Browns won the AAFC championship in 1949 their fourth straight title 23 The AAFC folded after the season and the Browns were absorbed by the more established National Football League NFL 24 The team finished the 1950 season with a 10 2 record and won the NFL championship by beating the Los Angeles Rams 25 The Browns reached the NFL championship each year between 1951 and 1953 but lost once to the Rams and twice to the Detroit Lions 26 Baltimore Colts Edit Ewbank got his first professional head coaching job in early 1954 for the NFL s Baltimore Colts a franchise that had started play the previous year 27 While it was a step up for Ewbank Brown encouraged him not to take the job and told him he would not be successful 28 After Ewbank took the job Brown accused him of passing information about the Browns draft targets to the Colts 28 Brown had insisted that he stay with the Browns through the 1954 draft and NFL commissioner Bert Bell agreed 29 During the draft Ewbank allegedly sent the names of players Brown liked to the Colts through Baltimore sportswriter John Steadman including end Raymond Berry who went on to have a long and successful career 29 The Colts struggled in Ewbank s first years as head coach posting records of 3 9 in 1954 and 5 6 1 in 1955 30 31 In 1956 however the team signed quarterback Johnny Unitas after he was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers 5 Ewbank brought in Otto Graham to tutor Unitas who complemented an improving team that included Berry fullback Alan Ameche halfback Lenny Moore and defensive back Don Shula 5 32 The Colts began the 1956 season with a 3 3 record and calls for Ewbank s firing intensified just as they had the previous year 32 Team owner Carroll Rosenbloom supported him however saying that while he had considered a coaching change in the past Ewbank could stay with the Colts forever or until he fouls up 32 When he came to Baltimore Ewbank had promised to create a system like Paul Brown s in Cleveland but said he would need time to turn the team into a winner 32 The Colts finished 1956 with a 5 7 record 33 The team made a turnaround the following year posting a 7 5 record but still finished third in the NFL s Western Division behind the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions 34 The team improved further in 1958 winning the Western Division with a 9 3 record and earning a spot in the NFL championship game against the New York Giants 35 Led by Unitas Berry and Ameche the team won the game 23 17 in sudden death overtime 36 Often referred to as The Greatest Game Ever Played the championship was watched by a large national audience on television and helped make professional football one of the most viewed sports in the U S 37 Ewbank was named coach of the year by the Associated Press and United Press International after the season 6 Baltimore finished with a 9 3 record for the second year in a row in 1959 and repeated as NFL champions 38 The team s performance fell off in subsequent years however and after posting a 7 7 record in 1962 Rosenbloom fired Ewbank three weeks later 1 2 3 39 He was succeeded by former player Don Shula a 33 year old assistant coach with the Lions 39 His legacy as a coach is mixed Some remember Ewbank as a humble coach who had a good sense of humor and tried to stay out of the spotlight 32 40 He could also be harsh with his players however Before the 1958 championship game he gave a speech telling his stars they needed to improve and had barely made the team 40 Unitas he said was obtained with a seventy five cent phone call and Ameche wasn t liked or wanted 40 Ewbank was not universally liked by his players Second string running back Jack Call later said the team won in spite of not because of Ewbank 41 Other players saw him as overly easygoing saying that while he was able to build teams up he became too relaxed once he reached the top 41 Hall of Famer Raymond Berry stated in his book All the Moves I Had What it amounts to is that Ewbank knew exactly what he wanted his team to do and how to get them to do it well Being under Weeb s system was the number one reason why Unitas and I had the careers we had 42 In his autobiography which he partially dedicated to Weeb Ewbank Hall of Famer Art Donovan had this to say about his former coach When Weeb and Joe Thomas came in and introduced the keying defense one that depended upon quickness and a players s ability to read offenses man I was in hog heaven Weeb Ewbank made Arthur J Donovan Jr a Hall of Fame football player I loved him for that I always will love him for that I can honestly say that Weeb Ewbank became and remains one of the most important cherished people in my life With that out of the way I can also honestly say that Weeb was a screwball who held insane grudges concentrated too much on what I considered the unimportant aspects of the game thought he was smarter than God and deep down inside was one mean sonofabitch 43 Ewbank remains the longest tenured head coach in the history of the Baltimore Colts New York Jets Edit A five man syndicate led by Sonny Werblin bought the New York Titans franchise of the American Football League AFL an NFL competitor as part of bankruptcy proceedings in 1963 44 Shortly thereafter the team changed its name to the New York Jets and hired Ewbank in April as its head coach and general manager 45 46 Ewbank took over a team that had not had a winning record in its first three years of existence and hired a coaching staff that included Chuck Knox Walt Michaels and Clive Rush all future head coaches 45 When he was hired Ewbank said he had a five year plan to succeed in Baltimore and I don t see why we can t build a winner here in five years 45 While the Jets won their first three games with Ewbank as coach his first several years were unsuccessful 45 The team meanwhile had to deal with numerous logistical issues stemming from its second tier status among New York s sports teams 45 The Jets switched stadiums from the Polo Grounds in Manhattan after the 1963 season to the new Shea Stadium in Queens but shared it with baseball s New York Mets 45 Concerned about possible damage to the stadium s natural turf the Mets would not allow the Jets to practice at Shea forcing the team to hold practices at the Rikers Island jail complex 45 The Jets posted 5 8 1 records for three consecutive seasons 1963 1965 47 48 49 Despite limited on field success in Ewbank s first years the Jets began to put the pieces of a winning team in place 45 In 1964 they outbid cross town NFL rival New York Giants for Matt Snell a top running back prospect out of Ohio State 45 Linebacker Larry Grantham became a consistent All Pro selection and safety Dainard Paulson had 12 interceptions in 1964 which remains a team record 50 An even bigger coup came in 1965 when the Jets signed Joe Namath a star quarterback at Alabama under coach Bear Bryant 51 The St Louis Cardinals selected Namath as the twelfth overall pick of the NFL draft but Namath later said he chose the Jets in part because he got along with Ewbank and was impressed by how he had developed Unitas while with the Colts 51 Namath quickly became a star for the Jets The team improved to 6 6 2 in 1966 and 8 5 1 in 1967 when Namath became the first to throw for more than 4 000 yards in a single season 52 53 54 By 1968 Ewbank s team was becoming one of the top teams in the AFL All of its main starters returned from the year before and the Jets brought in All Pro guard Bob Talamini from the Houston Oilers 55 The Jets started with a 3 2 record but won eight of nine to finish the regular season 11 3 and win the AFL East Division by four games 56 One of the Jets losses in 1968 was on the road in mid November against the Oakland Raiders that later came to be known as the Heidi Game 57 After Jim Turner kicked a field goal for the Jets that gave them a 32 29 lead with just over a minute left to play NBC cut away from the game to a scheduled broadcast of the children s movie Heidi 57 The Raiders went on to win the game by scoring two touchdowns in the final 42 seconds 57 Ewbank s wife Lucy called the locker room to congratulate him on the win only to learn the team had lost 57 The Jets first place finish in their division in 1968 set up a rematch with the Raiders the defending AFL champions and winners of the AFL West for the league championship 57 Namath threw three touchdowns as the Jets won 27 23 putting them through to the third World Championship game a matchup between the winner of the AFL and NFL now known as Super Bowl III 57 The Jets were 17 point underdogs to the Colts who had continued to succeed after Ewbank s departure with Unitas at quarterback and Shula as head coach 58 Nevertheless Namath publicly guaranteed a Jets win before the game which rankled Ewbank 59 Ewbank liked that the Colts were favored thinking it would make them complacent and did not want to agitate them by boasting about the Jets chances 58 Ewbank and the Jets played an unconventional game against the Colts opting for an uncharacteristically conservative strategy in part because star wideout Don Maynard was nursing a hamstring injury 60 Also on film the Jets noticed the Colts while talented on defense were very predictable They did not shift out of a defense once it was called from the sideline So Namath called most of the plays at the line of scrimmage after viewing the Colts defense instead of calling the offensive plays in the huddle The tactic worked against the Colts and the Jets built a 16 0 lead going into the game s fourth quarter by relying on Snell s running and Namath s ability to complete short passes against a steady Colts blitz 60 Snell had 121 yards on 30 carries 60 The Jets defense meanwhile held back a Colts offense that scored 460 points throughout the team s 15 1 regular and post season record up to that point 61 New York intercepted four Baltimore passes three thrown by Earl Morrall who was substituting for an injured Unitas and one by Unitas who entered the game in the second half 62 The Jets won the game 16 7 aided by Ewbank s familiarity with many of the Colts players and strategies 60 The Jets had a 10 4 record in 1969 but lost a divisional playoff to the Kansas City Chiefs 63 Ewbank was named the AFL s coach of the year after the season but the team did not post a winning record in any of the following four years 6 64 65 66 67 In December 1972 Ewbank announced that he would retire as head coach after the 1973 season saying he wanted to spend more time with his wife 68 He continued as general manager however and was named the team vice president 68 Charley Winner the former coach of the St Louis Cardinals and the husband of Ewbank s daughter Nancy was appointed as his replacement in early 1973 69 The 1973 Jets season is the subject of the book The Last Season of Weeb Ewbank by Paul Zimmerman 70 After the team lost seven of its first eight games in 1974 Ewbank resigned as vice president and general manager 71 He agreed to coach quarterbacks at Columbia University in 1975 72 Later life and honors EditEwbank moved back to Oxford in retirement and wrote a book in 1977 called Football Greats 73 He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 but said later that year that he was glad to be out of coaching 74 With the expansion of the NFL he said talent had become diluted and fielding a good team was difficult 74 Coaches meanwhile customarily took the blame for a team s failures and the sport had become too violent 74 Ewbank s coaching style was laid back but efficient combining his mild personality with an orderliness inherited from Paul Brown 26 75 Weeb combined a low key style with a flair for the most dramatic of accomplishments former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in 1998 He led two of the legendary teams during the era of pro football s greatest growth But he preferred to stay in the background and let the players take the credit 26 He favored well practiced execution of a limited number of plays over complicated offensive and defensive systems 75 Paul Brown had the exact same approach Don t do too much but what you do execute it flawlessly Raymond Berry said in 2013 adding that the Colts 1958 championship team had only six passing plays 75 Ewbank is the only man to coach two professional football teams to championships and the only man to win the NFL championship the AFL championship and a Super Bowl 6 His regular season career record in the NFL and AFL was 130 129 7 and his playoff record was 4 1 76 Ewbank was selected as the head coach on the AFL All Time Team in 1970 77 In addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame he was inducted into the Miami University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969 the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Talawanda School District Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 6 12 78 He also won the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award in 1987 and was inducted into the Jets Ring of Honor in 2010 79 80 Ewbank suffered a dislocated hip in the aftermath of the Jets 1968 AFL championship game win and had other health issues in his later years 5 He broke his leg and had two hip replacements in the 1990s 5 He also had myasthenia in his right eye 5 Ewbank died at 91 on November 17 1998 the 30th anniversary of the Heidi Game after suffering from heart problems 26 81 He and his wife Lucy had three daughters Luanne Nancy and Jan 26 His daughter Nancy married Charley Winner 82 Head coaching record EditCollege football Edit Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl playoffsWashington University Bears Independent 1947 1948 1947 Washington University 5 31948 Washington University 9 1Washington University 14 4Total 14 4AFL NFL Edit Team Year Regular Season PostseasonWon Lost Ties Win Finish Won Lost Win ResultBAL 1954 3 9 0 250 6th NFL Western BAL 1955 5 6 1 455 4th NFL Western BAL 1956 5 7 0 417 4th NFL Western BAL 1957 7 5 0 583 3rd NFL Western BAL 1958 9 3 0 750 1st NFL Western 1 0 1 000 Won NFL Championship over New York GiantsBAL 1959 9 3 0 750 1st NFL Western 1 0 1 000 Won NFL Championship over New York GiantsBAL 1960 6 6 0 500 4th NFL Western BAL 1961 8 6 0 571 T 3rd NFL Western BAL 1962 7 7 0 500 4th NFL Western BAL Total 59 52 1 532 2 0 1 000NYJ 1963 5 8 1 385 4th AFL East NYJ 1964 5 8 1 385 3rd AFL East NYJ 1965 5 8 1 385 2nd AFL East NYJ 1966 6 6 2 500 3rd AFL East NYJ 1967 8 5 1 615 2nd AFL East NYJ 1968 11 3 0 786 1st AFL East 2 0 1 000 Super Bowl III championsNYJ 1969 10 4 0 714 1st AFL East 0 1 000 Lost to Kansas City Chiefs in Interdivisional PlayoffsNYJ 1970 4 10 0 286 3rd AFC East NYJ 1971 6 8 0 429 3rd AFC East NYJ 1972 7 7 0 500 2nd AFC East NYJ 1973 4 10 0 286 4th AFC East NYJ Total 71 77 6 480 2 1 667Total 130 129 7 502 4 1 800Source Pro Football ReferenceCoaching tree EditAssistants under Weeb Ewbank who became NCAA or NFL head coaches Irwin Uteritz Washington University Bears 1949 1952 John Bridgers Baylor Bears 1959 1968 Don Shula Baltimore Colts 1963 1969 Miami Dolphins 1970 1995 Frank Lauterbur Toledo Rockets 1963 1970 Iowa Hawkeyes 1971 1973 Bob Shaw Saskatchewan Roughriders 1963 1964 Toronto Argonauts 1965 1966 Otterbein College 1985 1987 Clive Rush New England Patriots 1969 1970 Merchant Marine Academy 1976 Don McCafferty Baltimore Colts 1970 1972 Detroit Lions 1973 John Sandusky Baltimore Colts 1972 Chuck Knox Los Angeles Rams 1973 1977 1992 1994 Buffalo Bills 1978 1982 Seattle Seahawks 1983 1991 Charley Winner St Louis Cardinals 1966 1970 New York Jets 1974 1975 Joe Thomas Baltimore Colts 1974 Walt Michaels New York Jets 1977 1982 New Jersey Generals 1983 1985 Buddy Ryan Philadelphia Eagles 1986 1990 Arizona Cardinals 1994 1995 See also Edit Biography portalAmerican Football League players coaches and contributors List of National Football League head coaches with 50 winsReferences Edit a b Ewbank to resign as Baltimore coach Pittsburgh Post Gazette Associated Press January 8 1963 p 15 a b Colts fire Ewbank pick Shula Pittsburgh Press UPI January 8 1963 p 29 a b Colts grid shift boss own idea Pittsburgh Post Gazette Associated Press January 9 1963 p 16 a b c d e f g h i j Cradle of Coaches Weeb Ewbank PDF Miami University Libraries Archived from the original PDF on April 29 2015 Retrieved August 6 2013 a b c d e f g h Anderson Dave September 18 1994 His Championship Seasons Ewbank Reflects The New York Times Archived from the original on March 6 2016 Retrieved August 6 2013 a b c d e f Ewbank Wilbur Weeb Indiana Football Hall of Fame Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved August 6 2013 Clark Jan December 21 1973 Ewbank Logan Top List of 8 More Indiana Football Hall of Famers Palladium Item p 11 Retrieved October 5 2020 via Newspapers com Gifford amp Richmond 2008 p 168 a b c d e Miami Has Tiny Star in Ewbank Cleveland Plain Dealer Oxford O December 2 1927 p 28 He is Miami s smallest athlete yet one of the most versatile in the Ohio Conference He weighs only 146 pounds and stands 5 feet 7 inches Ewbank is the only man at Miami who has won three M s since the start of 1927 He copped them as forward on the basketball team centerfielder on the baseball outfit and quarterback on the football squad Miami Yearly Results College Football Data Warehouse Archived from the original on March 1 2014 Retrieved August 6 2013 Famous Phi s from Phi Delta Theta Chapters nationwide Purdue Phi Delta Theta Archived from the original on October 20 2013 Retrieved August 6 2013 a b c d e TSD Athletic Hall of Fame Talawanda School District Archived from the original on August 7 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 a b Kurz 1983 p 37 Markoe amp Jackson 2002 p 269 Cantor 2008 p 15 Cantor 2008 pp 29 44 a b c Cooper John From the Stacks Weeb Ewbank and the Cradle of Coaches Miami University Library Archived from the original on June 11 2014 Retrieved August 7 2013 Weeb Ewbank Is Named New Hoop Coach at Brown Nashua Telegraph Providence R I Associated Press May 24 1946 p 9 Retrieved August 7 2013 Broeg 2000 p 78 a b Ewbank Is New Browns Coach Cleveland Plain Dealer March 1 1949 p 21 Piascik 2007 pp 123 128 a b Cantor 2008 p 203 Piascik 2007 pp 144 146 Piascik 2007 pp 140 143 1950 Cleveland Browns Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 17 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 a b c d e NFL legend Ewbank dead at 91 CNN Sports Illustrated Associated Press November 18 1998 Archived from the original on August 7 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 Baltimore Colts Select Ewbank Eugene Register Guard Baltimore United Press International January 15 1954 p 2B Retrieved August 7 2013 a b Piascik 2007 p 310 a b Cantor 2008 p 140 1954 Baltimore Colts Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on October 1 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 1955 Baltimore Colts Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on October 19 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 a b c d e Colts Vindicate Weeb Ewbank Dayton Beach Morning Journal Baltimore Associated Press October 31 1958 p 12 Retrieved August 7 2013 1956 Baltimore Colts Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 22 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 1957 NFL Standings Team amp Offensive Statistics Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on July 12 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 1958 Baltimore Colts Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 17 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 Gifford amp Richmond 2008 pp 224 228 Gifford amp Richmond 2008 pp 5 9 1959 Baltimore Colts Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 17 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 a b Baltimore Colt Coach Ewbank Fired Replaced By Shula Lodi News Sentinel Baltimore United Press International January 9 1963 p 10 Retrieved August 7 2013 a b c Gifford amp Richmond 2008 p 90 a b Gifford amp Richmond 2008 p 170 Berry Raymond 2016 All the Moves I Had Lyons Press pp 61 paragraph 6 ISBN 978 1 4930 1780 5 Donovan Arthur 1987 Fatso Football When Men Were Really Men p 135 ISBN 0 688 07340 9 Year in Review 1963 New York Jets Archived from the original on July 16 2013 Retrieved August 7 2013 a b c d e f g h i Cannizzaro 2011 p 20 Jets name Ewbank as new coach Pittsburgh Post Gazette Associated Press April 16 1963 p 18 1963 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 29 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1964 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on August 21 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1965 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on July 27 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 Cannizzaro 2011 pp 20 21 a b Cannizzaro 2011 p 21 1966 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on August 17 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1967 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 27 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 Cannizzaro 2011 p 22 Cannizzaro 2011 p 26 Cannizzaro 2011 p 27 a b c d e f Cannizzaro 2011 p 28 a b Cannizzaro 2011 p 29 Cannizzaro 2011 pp 28 29 a b c d Cannizzaro 2011 p 32 Cannizzaro 2011 pp 30 32 Cannizzaro 2011 pp 33 34 1969 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on August 9 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1970 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 29 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1971 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 30 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1972 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 17 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 1973 New York Jets Statistics amp Players Pro Football Reference Archived from the original on September 17 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 a b Weeb Leans Toward End Of Coaching The Victoria Advocate New York Associated Press December 19 1972 p 2B Retrieved August 7 2013 Winner Takes Over Reigns As N Y Jets New Coach Sarasota Herald Tribune New York Associated Press December 18 1973 p 4 C Retrieved August 8 2013 Zimmerman Paul 1974 The Last Season of Weeb Ewbank ISBN 0374184623 Heat s Off Weeb Now The Evening Independent New York Associated Press November 17 1974 p 3 C Retrieved August 8 2013 Herman Robin December 13 1974 Ewbank to Help Columbia Quarterbacks The New York Times p 40 Archived from the original on March 6 2014 Retrieved August 8 2013 Anderson Dave September 26 1977 The Jets may have lost but they beat up the Colts The Miami News East Rutherford N J New York Times News Service p 2B Retrieved August 8 2013 a b c Grimsley Will November 3 1978 Ewbank happy to be out of coaching St Joseph News Press New York Associated Press p 2C Retrieved August 8 2013 a b c Weeb Ewbank s sphere of influence ESPN com May 22 2013 Archived from the original on August 16 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 Weeb Ewbank Record Statistics and Category Ranks Pro Football Reference com Archived from the original on August 18 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 All Time AFL Team DEFENSE Pro Football Hall of Fame Archived from the original on July 24 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 Hall of Fame Inductees Miami University Archived from the original on August 5 2013 Retrieved August 8 2013 Blevins 2012 p 65 Jets Unveil Ring of Honor Class of 2010 New York Jets July 20 2010 Retrieved August 8 2013 Wallace William N November 18 1998 Weeb Ewbank 91 Hall of Fame Coach of Jets Is Dead The New York Times p 15 Klingaman Mike Catching Up With Former Colts coach Charley Winner Baltimore Sun Bibliography Edit Blevins David 2012 College Football Awards All National and Conference Winners Through 2010 Jefferson North Carolina McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 4867 8 Broeg Bob 2000 The 100 Greatest Moments in St Louis Sports St Louis Missouri History Museum Press ISBN 978 1 883982 31 7 Cannizzaro Mark 2011 New York Jets The Complete Illustrated History Minneapolis MVP Books ISBN 978 0 7603 4063 9 Cantor George 2008 Paul Brown The Man Who Invented Modern Football Chicago Triumph Books ISBN 978 1 57243 725 8 Gifford Frank Richmond Peter 2008 The Glory Game How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever New York Harper Collins ISBN 978 0 06 154255 8 Kurz Bob 1983 Miami of Ohio the Cradle of Coaches Troy Ohio Troy Daily News ISBN 978 99932 691 6 8 Markoe Arnold Jackson Kenneth T eds 2002 The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives Thematic Series Sports Figures New York Charles Scribner s Sons ISBN 978 0 684 80665 5 Piascik Andy 2007 The Best Show in Football The 1946 1955 Cleveland Browns Lanham Maryland Taylor Trade Publishing ISBN 978 1 58979 571 6 External links EditWeeb Ewbank at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Weeb Ewbank at Find a Grave Cradle of Coaches Archive A Legacy of Excellence Weeb Ewbank Miami University Libraries Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Weeb Ewbank amp oldid 1130186941, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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